Woods Hole connects indie films with audiences

PROMOTING INDEPENDENT FILMS. THE LIGHTS DIM, THE CAMERA ROLLS, AND FOR A FEW HOURS YOU ARE TRANSPORTED INTO A DIFFERENT WORLD. WHERE AM I GOING TO FIND A HAGGARD, MIDDLE AGED WOMAN TO PLAY DYING? INGRID? ME? WHILE THE MOVIE GOING EXPERIENCE CAN BE THRILLING FOR PATRONS, IT IS ALSO THE BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOME FOR INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS WHO SPEND YEARS GRINDING TO COMPLETE THEIR FILMS. DO YOU GET IT? ARE WE GOOD? WE GOOD. FILM FESTIVALS IN GENERAL HAVE BECOME THE PRIMARY WAY FOR MOST FILMMAKERS TO HAVE THE PERSONAL CONNECTION WITH THE AUDIENCE. FEWER THAN 80 FILMS ARE GIVEN A THEATRICAL RELEASE BY THE MAJOR STUDIOS EACH YEAR. ADD TO THAT ABOUT 50 INDEPENDENT OR ARTHOUSE FILMS THAT BREAK THROUGH, AND YOU STILL HAVE ONLY ABOUT 130 FILMS IN THEATERS. IN CONTRAST TO THE THOUSANDS THAT ARE SCREENED AT FESTIVALS EACH YEAR, WE CELEBRATE REGIONALLY MADE FILMS, BUT WE’RE ALSO A HOME TO FILMS MADE AROUND THE WORLD. IN THE NARRATIVE FEATURE CATEGORY ALONE, WE HAVE FILMS REPRESENTING FIVE DIFFERENT CONTINENTS. FOR MANY FILMMAKERS, FESTIVALS ARE THEIR THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTION. JUST BECAUSE A FILM IS MADE OUTSIDE THE STUDIO SYSTEM DOESN’T MEAN IT LACKS STAR POWER. ON OPENING DAY, THE FESTIVAL WE WERE ABLE TO PLAY A FILM CALLED THE SUMMER BOOK, WHICH STARS GLENN CLOSE AND SHE GIVES A PHENOMENAL PERFORMANCE. WHAT DO YOU THINK THERE’S MORE OF STARS IN THE SKY OR FISH IN THE SEA? I CAN’T SEE ANY STARS. YOU SEE ANY FISH? FOR AN INDIE FILMMAKER SIGNING, GLENN CLOSE IS LIKE A CHEAT CODE FOR SECURING FUNDING. THE MORE COMMON PATH INVOLVES YEARS OF REJECTION, SMALL STEPS, AND PERSEVERANCE. YOU KNOW, WHEN I WAS PLAYING, MY POPP SAID I HAD TO COME WATCH THESE THREE KIDS PLAY. CAMPBELL, MINKUS, AND WHEELER. I MEAN, YOU WERE LIKE PEE-WEE CONEHEADS OUT THERE, CREATIVE, YOU KNOW? AND I GET IT. WE HAVE A LEFT. RELATIONSHIPS CHANGE. THIS TEAM STILL HAS POTENTIAL TO GO FAR THIS SEASON, BUT ONLY IF YOU TWO WORK TOGETHER. I’M JAKE MISKIN. I’M THE WRITER AND PRODUCER OF THE UPCOMING FILM SHATTERED ICE. SHATTERED ICE IS A HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY DRAMA THAT DEALS WITH THE IMPACT OF LOSING SOMEONE TO SUICIDE. THE PROCESS WAS A LONG ROLLER COASTER, TOOK 12 YEARS FROM WRITING THE FILM UP IN MY COLLEGE SENIOR YEAR APARTMENT TO HAVING PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY. IN JANUARY OF 2024. A NATIVE OF NEEDHAM, MASS. MYSSKIN DREW HEAVILY ON HIS OWN EXPERIENCE TO CREATE THE WORLD IN THE FILM. THE FICTIONAL TOWN IN THE MOVIE IS CALLED THE NORWOOD, AND BLACK BEARS, AND IT KIND OF MESHES MULTIPLE DIFFERENT TOWNS FROM A SMALL TOWN IN NEW ENGLAND FEEL TO, YOU KNOW, THE BALANCE OF, YOU KNOW, THE PUBLIC SCHOOL, PRIVATE SCHOOL RIVALRIES THAT HAPPEN WITHIN THE SMALL TOWNS. I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I HIGHLIGHTED MASSACHUSETTS AND THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN IT. THE FILM ALSO CONNECTS TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE WAY THAT IT DEALS WITH THE TOPICS OF SUICIDE AND MENTAL HEALTH. MILE RUN NEXT BC’S NOT LOOKING FOR DRUNKEN IDIOTS. ROLLERBLADING IN THE DARK. EVERYONE WHO WAS A PART OF THIS MOVIE SOMEHOW WAS RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE WITHIN THEIR OWN PERSONAL STORIES, AND THAT JUST MADE THIS JOURNEY EVEN MORE SPECIAL. ONE GOAL OF THE FILM IS TO NORMALIZE CONVERSATIONS AROUND MENTAL HEALTH, AND IF HIS WOODS HOLE SCREENINGS WERE ANY INDICATION, SHATTERED ICE HAS PEOPLE TALKING TO SEE A LINE AROUND THE CORNER. TO ENTER WAS A SURREAL MOMENT FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE, TO PEOPLE WHO SAID, I HAD TO SEE THIS AGAIN. WE SAW A LOT OF SHATTERED ICE GEAR AND THE NORTON BLACK BEAR GEAR BEING SHOWN, AND WORN. AND YEAH, IT WAS AN AWESOME